THE WORLD | IN BRIEF / CYPRUS

Rival Leaders Resume Formal Negotiations

Rival leaders of divided Cyprus agreed to launch intensive talks widely regarded as a last-ditch bid to end decades of bitter differences.

With European Union membership looming, Greek Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf R. Denktash agreed to meet three times a week, starting Monday. Wednesday's meeting at an old airstrip in the divided capital, Nicosia, was the first formal face-to-face negotiation between the two in four years.